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When I started this blog in 2008 it would never have occurred to me to hoard apples throughout the winter so that I could enjoy them in mid-May.
Fortunately, I've learned a thing or two since then.
We are still restlessly waiting for the austral harvest to arrive here in the north. The apples in the stores are old and tired.
But I've still got about a half dozen of these Gold Rushes left to enliven my palate and spirit.
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| A fully ripe Gold Rush. |
These are far from perfect. They were picked too early last fall and never came into their full flavor
Today they are on the tart side and the taste is not what I know is possible even this late in the year.
They also have sooty blotch and other minor authentic disfigurements.
Nonetheless that imperfect flavor still carries the authoritative tang of real local fruit.
The texture is astonishing after so much time off the tree, but then Gold Rush is like that.
We have a huge following for Gold Rush; customers order many pounds of them for storage over winter. Now, in mid-May, I am still receiving the occasional "Gold Rush Report" from those who are just now finishing up their stash and felt the last bite was as good as the first. Gold Rush rock! (But yes, you have to let them properly mature before picking - and that wait can be hard!)
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa! I've been following your orchard on Google+.
DeleteAs you can probably tell, my Gold Rush came from an organic orchard.
I don't know why they were picked so noticeably early, or even when they were picked, but we do have a shorter growing season in New England.
Still glad to have them this time of year.